


French School: how it works

by UsUntilTheEnd



Series: About France [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: French school, French school calendar, French schooling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:28:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24770863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UsUntilTheEnd/pseuds/UsUntilTheEnd
Summary: Explanations about the school system in France
Series: About France [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1793326
Comments: 36
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my native language so there may be some errors in my vocabulary and my grammar.

As a French reading english fictions in this fandom, I cringe a little when strangers use the UK/US school system.

So, first things first. School, 'til University/College, is free for everyone. There is some exceptions but those are private schools.  
Second thing, scholarship doesn't depend on grades. It depends on how much taxes your parents pay every year. Your parents must pay less than a certain amount to be eligible to scholarship. Since school 'til University is free, only college student can get scholarship to pay the fee. Before, the scholarship can be used to pay for the school canteen.  
There's no board of governors. School is managed by the principal. But the mayor of the city, under the decisions of the Ministry of National Education, can close the school.  
The professors and the principal are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry. There are civil servants (their employer is the French public administration).

Like in the US/UK, school is divided between kindergarten, primary school, middle school, high school and universities/Grandes Ecoles.  
Kindergarten is for the children between two/three and five. There are three levels of classes.  
Primary school is for those between six and ten. There are five levels of classes.  
Middle school is for those between eleven and fifteen. There are four levels of classes.  
High school if for those between sixteen and eighteen. There are three levels of classes.  
University is for those older than eighteen. Most of them have at maximum seven levels of classes. The Faculty of Medicine is a special case.  
A Bachelor takes three years, a Master takes five years (the three years of Bachelor plus two more years) and a PhD takes seven years (the five years of Master plus two more years).  
The Grandes Ecoles are, I think, something specific to France. I don't think I can explain it correctly so...

Unlike in the US/UK and others countries, we don't choose our courses. Every child learns the same syllabus. This syllabus is defined by the Ministry of National Education.  
There is no early graduation and no credit. The only way to graduate early is to skip a year. But that's a rare case. To graduate, we must keep our grades at least above average.  
At the end of middle school, every student takes an exam. If we pass the exam, we get our first diploma of Schooling. This exam is the same for every student.  
At the end of high school, once again, all the students take an exam. If we pass this exam, we get our second diploma of Schooling. It's also the same for every student. This diploma allows us to enter University.  
I think that's everything about the academics.

We don't do GPA, we don't have Homecoming or Prom and I think that's everything you need to know about French school.

Thank you for reading me and I hope this post was useful to you.


	2. School Calendar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations about the French school calendar.

I realized I forgot to talk about the French school calendar.

In France, for primary, middle and high school, the year is divided into trimester instead of semester. We have three trimesters. The first trimester start in September and end in December, the second start in January and end in March and the last one start in April and end in June.  
About holidays, there's a lot more than in the US. Indeed, we have two weeks at the end of October/beginning of November. Then, there's the two weeks at the end of the year for Christmas and New Year. After that, there two weeks for winter break, generally in February. For spring break, we also have two weeks and then we have two months (July and August) for summer break. To all those holidays, you must add all the French public holidays.

The French public holidays are the following:  
January, 1st  
Easter Monday  
May, 1st (Labor Day)  
May, 8th (armistice of Second World War)  
Ascension Day (the Thursday 40 days after Easter if I'm correct)  
Whit Monday  
July, 14th (Bastille Day)  
August, 15th (Assumption)  
November, 1st (All Saints' Day/Day of the Dead)  
November, 11th (armistice of First World War)  
December, 25th


End file.
